Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Jan 17 , 2012 (IPS) – Teachers’ Day on Jan. 16 was a sombre affair in Thailand’s troubled southern provinces where memories are strong of 155 educators killed over the past eight years in an insurgency led by Malay-Muslim separatists. Yet, this grim fact [...]
RURAL THAILAND STRIKES BACK
July 5, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy B.RAMAN Rural Thailand has struck back in the general elections held on July,3,2011. And with what vehemence! 2.Since 2006, it was deprived of the leadership of its favourite son Thaksin Shinawatra, a Thai of Chinese origin, whose family belonged to Chiangmai in Northern Thailand. A cop turned businessman turned politician, [...]
Bangkok Could Prove Crucial To Avert Global Warming
April 8, 2011 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IDN By Taro Ichikawa IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis BANGKOK (IDN) – One would think that the triple disaster in Japan, unleashed by the 9 magnitude earthquake, and unprecedented flooding and mudslides in the south of Thailand would motivate government officials from around the world to agree on concrete and binding [...]
HEALTH: Thai Touch in HIV Care Attracts Doctors from Asia, Africa
October 22, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Oct 22, 2010 (IPS) – Northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province has many charms to draw foreign visitors, from hilltribe communities dressed in colourful ethnic clothes, trips to gentle hills close to the Burmese and Lao borders, excursions to once infamous opium trails and a [...]
SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Malaria Control Drive Reaches Out to Migrant Workers
October 2, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Oct 2, 2010 (IPS) – As efforts to control malaria intensify in the region, the significance of a busy health clinic in Mae Sot, a Thai town close to the Burmese border, stands out even more. It is the Mae Tao clinic that an [...]
POLITICS-THAILAND: Red-shirt Protest Leaders Up for Trial
September 24, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Sep 24, 2010 (IPS) – A landmark political trial begins on Monday when leaders of an anti-government protest movement, known as the ‘red shirts’, will be hauled before the criminal court to face alleged terrorism charges. The 19 accused include Veera Musikapong, leader of [...]
THAILAND: Insurgency Turns Malay-Muslim Women into Leaders
September 23, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar SONGKHLA, Thailand, Sep 23, 2010 (IPS) – When her husband was arrested for links to an insurgency raging in this southern region, Pattama Heemmima joined the ranks of Malay-Muslim women forced into the unfamiliar routine of visiting police stations, military camps and courts to secure [...]
THAILAND: Red Shirts Bring Politics of Discontent Back to the Streets
September 20, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Sep 20, 2010 (IPS) – After a lapse of four months, Pukkie Mathika was finally able to break her silence, finding her way back to a busy intersection in the heart of an up-market shopping district here in Bangkok to rage against the Thai [...]
SOUTH-EAST ASIA: Thailand Faces Flak for Backing Mekong Dams
July 29, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar BANGKOK, Jul 29, 2010 (IPS) – Northern Thai villagers living on Mekong River’s banks are poised to join a growing tide of opposition against a planned cascade of 11 dams to be built on the mainstream of South-east Asia’s largest body of water. These communities, [...]
RIGHTS-THAILAND: Imam’s Widow Takes on Legal System in South
July 7, 2010 By
Global Geopolitics & Political Economy / IPS By Marwaan Macan-Markar NARATHIWAT, Thailand, Jul 7, 2010 (IPS) – She is better known for her cooking, her hospitality and her soft-spoken demeanour in this southern region torn apart by an insurgency. But now, 52- year-old Nima Kaseng is heading for a bigger, more public role – as [...]
